


Don't Leave Me

by CommanderValeria



Series: Black/Snape Legacy [1]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Light Angst, Romance, Sexual Content
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-06-20
Updated: 2017-01-24
Packaged: 2017-12-15 14:27:31
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,745
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/850606
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CommanderValeria/pseuds/CommanderValeria
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Lucy was a new member of the Order when she met Sirius. They quickly started a relationship but then he was killed. Now he's back and she's teaching at Hogwarts. How will she deal with the fear that the man she loves will suddenly disappear? This story starts immediately after the Battle of Hogwarts and does it's best to stay cannon compliant.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. After the Battle

**Author's Note:**

> AUTHOR'S NOTES:
> 
> 1\. This is a co-story set in the same universe as animalwriter's "The Serpents' Kiss". Animalwriter isn't currently on this site but her stories can be found on Fanfiction.net. When/if she joins AO3 I'll update this to show her as a co-author and to possibly reflect a new username for her if she chooses to pick a different one for this site. Right now I think each story can each stand on their own as separate stories, but I'd recommend reading both as later on there might be situations mentioned in one story that are fully explained in the other.
> 
> 2\. We have "revived" the majority of the characters who passed away in the Battle of Hogwarts in "The Deathly Hallows." In our attempt to keep as cannon as possible with J.K.R's rule that the dead cannot be brought back to life, we've explained it as certain "old magic" prevented those who had some kind of "unfinished business" from fully dying, and so they were not actually "dead", just sort of "sleeping" until they were able to be revived. My story does attempt to give an explanation of this but if you prefer to look at this as an alternate universe story, go ahead I won't be offended. Thanks and I hope you enjoy one or both stories.
> 
> 3\. Though I've tagged this for sexual content it has very little overall. This isn't a sex-filled story but since it does occur from time to time I thought the tag was appropriate.

The battle was over.

The dead were laid out in the great hall. The wounded taken to the hospital wing. Voldemort had been killed. And this time he was not coming back. Still, she was not satisfied. She couldn’t even say it was a bittersweet moment.

Tonight she had lost a friend from school days, a friend she had recently met but had become close to, a former teacher, and a cousin. About a year ago Dumbledore had been killed, a man looked up to and beloved by many, including her. No longer would she see Mad-Eye Moody clunking down the halls of the Order’s headquarters. Worst of all though, was a death that had happened not long after she had joined the Order.

“Lucy?” a hand touched her shoulder. Lucy turned to see a favorite professor of hers. One who was generally stoic, but who cared very deeply about all her students.

“Professor McGonagall?” It was only the two of them in the great hall. Beds had been found for everyone who was still at the school.

“You should get some rest. I’ve had them make up a bed for you with the Weasley’s in Gryffindor Tower. You’re aunt and uncle would be glad for the company I’m sure.”

Lucy shook her head, “No. I want to stay here. Stay with them. I’m not tired and they shouldn’t be left alone. Please, you go to bed. I’ll be fine.”

“All right,” Professor McGonagall said reluctantly, “but be sure to call someone if you need help.”

“Help with what?” Lucy asked with a trace of bitterness in her voice, “It’s not as if they’re going to go anywhere.”

“Just the same,” she said, closing the large doors.

Alone. Standing vigil over the dead. Thinking of him. She shouldn’t be thinking of him. He’d been gone almost two years now. She shouldn’t still be this upset by his death. It wasn’t as if they were anything to each other. A few flirtations the handful of times she’d been to 12 Grimmauld Place wasn’t something to warrant such heartache. Still…he had said, the last time they saw each other that when this was over he wanted to talk. About them.

Trying to avoid thinking about him Lucy began pacing the room. The hours passed slowly. Above her head the ceiling was no longer enchanted. There was no night sky reflected in the rafters. A pink light was just beginning to shine through the windows when Lucy sat in one of the chairs littered around the room. Her head bobbed as she fought sleep.

“Oy!” Lucy watched in disbelief as one of the dead seemed to sit up. She must be dreaming. “What happened? Last I remember Percy was making a joke. That can’t be right. I must have been hit over the head.”

Lucy sat up straight in her chair, heart pumping, wide awake. She had to be dreaming. People just didn’t come back from the dead! How many times had she heard Dumbledore say no spell could bring back the dead or something similar? Then the figure began to stand. “Wait! No! Don’t…! Just stay there!” Lucy yelled, not sure why she was doing so.

“Lu? That you?”

“Yes. I need to… um… you need. I’ll be right back,” Lucy managed to say. “Don’t move Fred.” Lucy rushed down the halls to Professor McGonagall’s room, trying to find a logical explanation for what she just saw. By the time she had reached the door to McGonagall’s rooms she was convinced there was none. She wasn’t dreaming, insane, or drunk. Nor did she think her lack of sleep had caused her to begin seeing things, after all no one else was alive again. She was sure Fred had been dead when he was brought in to lie with the others and no spell or incantation she knew could bring back the dead.

Lucy banged on the door as hard as she could, making sure she was heard, “Professor! Professor, I need to see you right now!”

“Miss Ketteridge what _are_ you yelling about?”

“Fred. He’s… he’s sitting up and talking!”

“That is simply not possible. You must need some sleep.”

“Believe me, as a former Ravenclaw I know this isn’t at all logical but it’s what I saw! Would you at least come look? Please, before he starts wandering around!”

“You’re serious aren’t you?”

“Yes!” The pair started running back along the route that Lucy had just come. When they entered the great hall Lucy was stunned to see that Fred up and walking around when she had specifically told him not to move.

As Professor McGonagall hurried towards Fred another voice could be heard. “I’m not dead? I should be dead. I’m sure I remember being killed.”

Lucy’s eyes got bigger as she whispered, “Tonks,” to her companions.

“This is not acceptable!” McGonagall told the room.

Lucy threw her hands up into the air, “I don’t know what to tell you. I’m just glad I’m not the only one who sees this.”

“The dead can not come back to life!” she said as if trying to reassure herself of this fact.

“Are you sure I was dead? I don’t think I was. Seems like something I’d remember,” Fred threw into the conversation.

“Quite sure,” Lucy said as calm as she could. “George saw you crushed by a wall and Madam Pomfrey checked you when you were brought down. Besides Tonks remembers being killed.”

“Lu?” Tonks called from the place she had woken up. “What’s wrong with Remus?”

“He’s dead,” McGonagall told her flatly.

“Dead!”

“I wouldn’t worry too much Tonks,” Lucy told her, “The way this night’s been going he’ll be up and about in less than an hour.”

* * *

 

As it turned out she was only partially right. It was a couple more hours before Remus Lupin was up and walking around with his wife and Fred. By this time the Weasleys and Andromeda Tonks had been informed of what had happened and word was quickly spreading throughout those staying at the school.

After seeing three people come back from the dead with her own eyes, Lucy thought there wasn’t much else that could shock her. She wasn’t the only one whose jaw hit the floor when one of the most feared professors at Hogwarts walked through the doors. She shook her head, knowing that the vision wouldn’t disappear. Professor Severus Snape had returned to Hogwarts. “What is going on here?” he addressed McGonagall.

“We’re not entirely sure Severus.”

Lucy edged away from the pair, and the heated argument that was beginning, as she saw Harry Potter rushing up to them. Her situation did not improve though. Mrs. Weasley soon broke away from fussing over Fred and tried pushing Lucy into a chair.

“Please, dear. You should get some rest... been awake all this time.”

Lucy sat, because she was tired of standing, not because she wanted to sleep. “No, Aunt Molly, really I’m okay. I can’t sleep. This isn’t over yet. I can feel it…” she trailed off.

“You don’t think you’re bringing them back do you?”

“No, no. I’d be foolish to believe that. I just need to see this thing to its conclusion.” She knew Molly had been worried about her for longer than just the last couple days. After she had left Hogwarts and her father hadn’t made any attempts to communicate with her, the Burrow had become almost a second home. Aunt Molly and Uncle Arthur a second set of parents, though in truth Molly had been acting like her mother ever since Lucy’s mother and Molly’s sister, Jennifer, had been killed during Voldemort’s first reign.

Lucy knew Molly had seen what had been happening between her and Sirius. She wasn’t sure Mrs. Weasley had been too happy about it, but she hadn’t said anything about it until after he had gone. She’d changed, or so Aunt Molly told her. All the joy of life she’d had had gone. She wasn’t really living anymore; she was just sort of … there. Now Lucy feared Molly knew what she was waiting for and urging her not to hope for the impossible. But the impossible had already happened four times in less than a day. Who said it couldn’t happen one more time?

* * *

By late afternoon Lucy was beginning to think her instincts had been wrong. No one else had come back and it was getting harder to keep her eyes open. Much longer and she wasn’t sure she’d be able to keep Mrs. Weasley from actually carrying her to bed.

The main doors opened again, but they had been doing that all day. The action didn’t attract Lucy’s attention until all the conversations in the room had stopped and everyone’s head turned toward the front of the room. When she turned to look at what everyone was seeing, she found herself looking at an old man with a long white beard and hair. His eyes crinkled as he smiled at the people gathered. It was almost as if he considered them all his children. “Dumbledore!” someone shouted.

He nodded and the crowed started cheering; some were clapping, some crying. Dumbledore waded through the crowd, stopping to talk to people as he passed by, but Lucy thought he looked distracted, as if he were searching for someone in particular. When he stopped to talk to Harry, Ron, and Hermione she thought he’d found the people he’d been looking for. It wasn’t long though, before the trio led Dumbledore to where Lucy was sitting.

“Ah, Miss Ketteridge. I understand you were the one who first noticed what was happening.”

“Yes, Professor Dumbledore.” Lucy whispered.

“I think we should discuss this in my office.”

“Yes, sir,” she continued to whisper, fearing she was somehow in trouble for what had happened. She rose to follow him to the headmaster’s office. Lucy stumbled half way to the doors and was held up by her old headmaster.

“All right, Miss Ketteridge?”

“Yes, sir.”

They reached the gargoyle that guarded the entrance to the headmaster’s office. Lucy briefly wondered what was going to happen as Dumbledore _hadn’t_ been the last headmaster of Hogwarts. Now, both Dumbledore and Snape were back…

She needn’t have worried though, at Dumbledore’s quietly spoken word the gargoyle leapt aside and they stepped onto the spiral staircase to ride it up to the doors of the office. When they entered the office the paintings of the old headmasters and headmistress’ made nearly as much commotion about Dumbledore’s return as the people in the Great Hall. Dumbledore quieted the paintings while drawing up a chair in front of his desk. Lucy looked up and noticed both the portraits of Dumbledore and Snape were there, but still, like a Muggle portrait.

“Please, Miss Ketteridge, have a seat.”

Lucy sat and looked up at her old headmaster, “Professor, what is going on?”

Dumbledore sat in his old chair and steepled his fingers before replying, “It seems that you have managed to do something that is only heard of in legends.”

“I did this?”

“In a way. Yes.”

“How?” she asked, confused.

“I shall explain as best I can. You see, what I think has happened here occurred because of a very old type of magic. According to legend there is a sort of protective magic that surrounds those killed by evil means and prevents them from being completely dead. They may appear dead and can even be buried without any decay occurring, but they are not actually dead.”

“But how did everyone become… revived?” Lucy asked.

“That takes a number of different occurrences. Possibly the most important among those is a momentous event, in this case Voldemort being well and truly killed. Another would be that those the magic surrounds must have what legend terms a ‘higher calling’. The last part is where you come in. In all the stories I have read where this happens, it always happens when a truly grieving person stands a night’s vigil over some of the more recently dead.”

“How do you know who has a higher calling and who doesn’t?”

“You don’t, or at least it’s not always obvious. After all it’s not hard to think of a reason Remus and Tonks might have a higher calling, but can you think of one for Professor Snape?”

Lucy shook her head.

“I trust Severus completely, but as I said it’s not clear what his higher calling may be. We can only assume that he has one. Perhaps, in time it will reveal itself. Perhaps not. Those of us who do not put much stock in divinations may never know.”

“How much longer do you think this will go on?”

“I’m afraid I have no idea. But I think it would be interesting to note the order in which everyone has been coming back.”

Lucy thought for a moment. She hadn’t been witness to all of the ‘deaths’ but maybe… “In reverse order of when they were killed?”

“So it would seem. I would not give up hope yet. This magic has not quite finished with us and after all, it is a long way from London.” There was a sparkle in the old wizard’s eyes, as if he had read Lucy’s mind. Perhaps he had.

* * *

When the time came for everyone to go to bed, Lucy, once again refused. She knew McGonagall didn’t like it and it made Mrs. Weasley worry, but there _had_ to be just one more miracle left and she was determined not to miss it.

She wandered the halls and avoided Peeves before sitting down on the landing in front of the portrait of the Fat Lady. She didn’t think it would be wise to continue walking up the stairs when her legs simply refused to work right. If she just closed her eyes for a minute or two she’d be fine to start wandering the halls again. After all she couldn’t miss much in just a minute. A short nap was all she needed…

* * *

“No, I am not letting you in there! That child needs her sleep!”

“She’s hardly a child. I just want to see her Molly, see for myself she’s okay.”

“No! She is not okay and she hasn’t _been_ okay and it’s all _your_ fault!”

“How is it my fault? I didn’t do it on purpose!”

“You got emotionally involved with her! She is too young for that!”

“She’s the same age as Tonks. I promise I won’t wake her up. I just want to see her.”

“Molly,” said a different, more authoritative voice, “let him through.”

A door scraped open and the edge of the bed where Lucy lay dipped low as extra weight was added to it. A gentle hand pushed some hair out of her face and she heard a sigh. She had thought she was dreaming up until the hand touched her face. She had to be dreaming. She had just closed her eyes a minute ago, but she had never had tactile dreams before.

“Ah, Lucy. You are alive and well after all.” The hand stroked her face again.

Lucy realized she wasn’t asleep when she registered just how tired she was and how badly she needed to use the restroom. She didn’t want to open her eyes, afraid that when she did the owner of the hand would no longer be in the room. She’d had dreams before where he’d disappear when she woke up and she wasn’t sure how well she would deal with it this time.

 She rolled onto her back and lifted her eyelids. Her brain couldn’t quite register what her eyes were seeing in front of her. She didn’t think she was dreaming anymore. After all, if she were dreaming about him, she probably wouldn’t be seeing Aunt Molly peering through the crack of the partially open door. “Sirius?” she whispered.

He smiled and nodded.

“Sirius!” Lucy bolted upright. She wrapped her arms around him and buried her face in his neck. “You have _no_ idea…”she whispered, tears threatening.

One of his hands tangled in her hair, the other stroked her back. “Oh, I think I have some idea. I’ve been talking with Harry, the Weasleys, Hermione, Dumbledore, Remus, Tonks. The whole Order, or what’s left of it anyway.” He pulled back a little and looked into her light brown eyes, “Perhaps I should leave. I did promise not to wake you.” His head tilted towards the door where Mrs. Weasley’s face zipped out of sight.

Lucy held on tighter, “No, I’m not ready to let you go just yet. I’ll lay down again if you stay. You probably need your rest too.”

His eyes crinkled with laughter, “I’ve been more or less dead for the last two years. I think I’m all caught up on sleep.”

“Too bad. Stay anyway.”

Sirius loosened her grip on him and climbed over her to lie next to her on the bed. “Okay, you’ve convinced me.”

Lucy lay back down, curled up next to Sirius, her need to use the restroom forgotten. As her eyes were closing she asked, “You’ll be here when I wake up?”

“I’ll be right here. Don’t worry.”


	2. Dating

This time Lucy did dream, but these dreams were not the kind she would be telling Ginny or Hermione about. Maybe Tonks, but Tonks was married with a child. She woke up thoroughly rested, completely satisfied, and blushing when she looked up at Sirius.

"Good dreams?"

Lucy groaned and covered her face with her hands.

He chuckled, "You've nothing to worry about. Your virtue's completely intact. Molly was rushing in here at every little sound you made to check on us."

"Oh, good." Lucy squeaked. She peeked at Sirius through her fingers, "Was I really that noisy?"

He cleared his throat, "Um, well…"

"I'm never leaving this room again. I don't care how full my bladder is. I'm just not leaving."

"If it helps at all, it was only my name that came up."

"Just your name?" Lucy said, feeling something distinctly male resting against her.

It was Sirius's turn to blush, "You'd best get up. It's after noon, we've missed lunch, and you, as you've said, have a full bladder. There hasn't been anyone out in the common room for hours. No one besides Molly and Arthur anyway. Molly to keep an eye on us and Arthur to keep an eye on Molly. It'd be best if you went out alone I think. Molly would not be too pleased to see me…like this."

"What common room?" Lucy hadn't been very sure of where she was but now she thought she must be in one of the house dormitories.

"We're in Gryffindor tower. Notice all the red and gold?"

"Oh." Lucy said.

"Now get going before Molly comes back in here."

Lucy rose from the bed, dressed in what she had been wearing for the last few days and edged towards the door.

"Ah, Lucy. All rested?" Uncle Arthur asked her when she entered the common room.

"Um, yes," Lucy looked around the room and saw only Arthur. "Where's Aunt Molly?"

"Oh, I convinced her I was more then capable of looking after you alone so she could go do something more productive. Such as fuss over Fred."

Uncle Arthur not mentioning anything he may or may not have heard while she slept helped Lucy to not feel so self conscious. "Ah, thanks. I'll be back I just have to nip down to the restroom."

"All right then. I'd avoid the one on the third floor. Always lots of people hanging around there." He went back to reading the paper he'd been looking over when Lucy first emerged from the bedroom.

Lucy climbed through the portrait hole and nearly knocked Ginny down the stairs. "Oh, sorry Ginny. I'm sort of in a hurry."

"That's okay. Mum just sent me up to check on you since Dad's forbidden her from entering the common room until dark."

Lucy started hurrying towards one of the upper level bathrooms, Ginny following. "I suppose Aunt Molly told you to follow me around too?"

Ginny laughed and shook her head, "No, she's not that over protective. I just thought you might like someone to talk to. It's been a busy couple of days. I know you and Tonks are pretty close, but she's off with Lupin and Teddy. Anyway, I just thought I'd offer."

Lucy smiled, "Thanks. Right now though I need to find a restroom and," she pulled her robes slightly away from her body, "perhaps a change of robes."

"No problem," Ginny started to go back to wherever she had come from, but turned back for a moment, "Oh, before I forget. Dumbledore's said there's going to be a celebratory dinner in the Great Hall tonight. It's the last dinner before everyone goes home for summer break."

"I'll be there," Lucy assured her cousin. It was odd to think that all this had happened and Hogwarts hadn't even let out for the summer yet. Of course classes hadn't been in session since the battle and there was no point in the students staying longer then necessary.

After using the restroom, Lucy started to make her way back to Gryffindor Tower. Turning down one corridor she saw a slight, blonde haired girl, with a faraway look in her eyes, carrying what looked like a set of Ravenclaw robes.

"Um, hello," Lucy greeted the girl. "Is everything all right? Do you need help with something?"

"Oh, no," the girl shook her head, "I haven't seen any gnargals about for ages and while I do get the occasional wrackspurt they're easily taken care of."

"Oh, all right." Lucy said. She had no idea what the girl was talking about.

"I thought you might like these," the girl held out the robes she carried, "I had an extra set and Ginny said you might need a change of robes."

"Ginny? Oh, you must be Luna. I'm Lucy. Ginny says nice things about you."

Luna nodded, "She's very nice." With the conversation apparently over Luna wandered away talking to herself about a crumple horned something or other.

Lucy eventually found her way back to the portrait of the Fat Lady and stood in front of it. She realized she had no way of getting back inside, no one had told her the password.

"Password?" the Fat Lady asked.

"Um, I don't know it. No one told me the password. I'm not even a student. I mean I was a student but that was a few years ago. You wouldn't remember me anyway. I wasn't in Gryffindor…"

"No password, no entry. Even if you are a former non-Gryffindor student."

"But my Uncle Arthur's in there. At least I assume he still is and I'm sure Sirius is still in there. Unless he went to go look for Harry, but I think he would have left a note or something."

"Sirius? You don't mean Sirius Black?" the Fat Lady shrieked.

"Yes. You let him in yesterday or maybe it was early this morning. You must have noticed."

The portrait swung open, the Fat Lady yelling, "Get. Him. Out!"

"Um, okay," Lucy climbed through the entrance before the Fat Lady could change her mind. A quick look around the common room told her that Mr. Weasley had indeed left the Tower and someone, probably Sirius, had left a note.

The note told her only what she had already thought. Sirius had gone to spend time with Harry. She shouldn't be jealous, really she shouldn't, but she was. Trying to keep from being irrational, Lucy headed up to one of the girl's dormitories and changed into her borrowed robes. They were a both a bit too short and a bit too tight, but they would do for now.

Lucy left Gryffindor Tower and began to see signs of people cleaning up the parts of Hogwarts that had been damaged. She wasn't sure if the library had received any damage during the battle but she made her way there to see if it had. The library had been one of her favorite parts of the old school, though more often then not she had been checking out fiction rather than books to study from. She had been one of those kids who didn't need to study much in order to receive top marks, so she had spent a great deal of her spare time reading.

The library didn't appear to have been damaged but Lucy walked up and down the aisles to be sure, her fingers tracing the familiar path of smooth, old book spines. Arriving in the seldom used section reserved for works of fiction, she pulled Arthur and I from the shelves. It was a story written by a wizard some 300 years after the time when King Arthur was thought to have died.

Before she knew it Lucy had read 50 pages of the story and someone was gently tapping her shoulder. She looked up to see Dumbledore standing next to her.

He pulled out a chair and sat before saying, "Professor Flitwick thought I might find you here."

"You were looking for me, sir?"

"Mmhmm and Philius said he remembered you spending a lot of time in here, not studying."

Lucy smiled, "I didn't do so bad for not studying much. I was one of those kids who didn't need to study a lot. Besides I find fiction more interesting than school books."

"I was wondering, what did you find yourself doing after you finished Hogwarts?"

"I joined the Order."

Dumbledore gave an indulgent smile, "That wasn't until nearly five years after you left the school. You must have intended to take up some career before you joined the Order."

"Oh, that. I did take up a career. I started Auror's training with Tonks. We became pretty close when we were here. I finished a little while before she did. She had trouble with stealth, clumsy as she is. I was an Auror for about a year, Kingsley might have told you. I worked with Gawain Robards and Tonks worked with Mad-Eye." Lucy stopped, not want to talk anymore.

"What happened after a year?" Dumbledore prompted.

"Cedric Diggory died. I didn't know him or anything. I mean I knew of him, he was in Tonks's house. You Know…Voldemort came back. You said it and Harry said it. The Ministry's official position on that was that Voldemort wasn't back. You were crazy and Harry was just looking for attention. I didn't know Harry then, but I couldn't figure how anyone who knew you would think you were lying or had lost your mind. Harry didn't seem to have any reason to lie. There wasn't anything to gain by causing mass panic. If he was lying he'd just be making himself look like a fool and no one wants to do that.

"I pushed for the Ministry to take the story seriously but they stuck to their story. It was during that summer that I quit. When they asked me why I told them I couldn't go out there and represent a Ministry whose policies I did not support. They argued that no one could possibly agree with all of the Ministry's policies. I agreed but this was something big enough that I was taking a stand on it. Truthfully I never planned on being an Auror all my life anyway. I went into it because I wanted to do some good, but it didn't look like I was going to get to do that. I felt bad later when I found out people like Uncle Arthur, Kingsley and Tonks did it, but I had to do what I thought was right at the time."

"What did you plan to do instead?"

"I don't know. I joined the Order, and, well you know all about that. If I could get paid to read all the time I'd probably do that. I like discussing things I've read, arguing various points of view, sharing my knowledge. I think I'd enjoy doing a job like that. If it existed that is."

Dumbledore smiled, "There is a job like that. Teaching. As it happens we do have an opening. I'm sure you'd be a very capable professor if you wanted the job."

"Muggle Studies, right? I heard about Professor Burbage," Lucy shook her head, "No, thank you. I don't know enough about Muggles to do that job."

"But you would be interested in teaching?"

Lucy slowly nodded, "I never thought about it before, but if the right opening came along I could be persuaded."

* * *

 

It was weird. It shouldn't have been. After all it had been a number of years since she'd lived at Hogwarts, but still, not sitting at the Ravenclaw's table was odd. Sitting with the Weasley's at the Gryffindor table gave Lucy a new perspective on the Great Hall. They weren't necessarily supposed to be sitting at their house tables; it was just habit for everyone in the group, except for Tonks and Lucy, to sit at this particular table.

Sirius was sitting on her right. He shifted close enough to her so that their legs were hairsbreadth from touching. In fact, he kept nudging her foot with his. Lucy turned to him to say something when Mrs. Weasley interrupted, "Lucy, dear, what were you planning on doing with your summer?"

"I'm not sure. Kingsley's already tried to recruit me back to being an Auror, but the idea doesn't really appeal to me anymore. I quit for a reason and I don't want to go back," she saw Harry and Ron avoid looking at Mrs. Weasley. Kingsley had confided that both boys had accepted his offer to join the Aurors.

"You're welcome to stay with us. We can put you in Bill's old room," Aunt Molly offered.

"That won't be necessary Molly. She'll be staying with me," Sirius told Molly.

"I'll be what?" They hadn't even had much of any type of conversation, let alone one of significance.

"Oh, I don't think it would appropriate," Aunt Molly said.

"It won't be a problem Molly. The house is big enough. Lucy can have her own floor if she wants it," Sirius informed her.

"What house?" Lucy interrupted. "When you died Harry inherited Grimauld Place. I doubt you retained any house being dead an all."

"Well, Harry and I talked about that. He's decided he has no real need of my home and my money and so he's returned everything to me. I have no desire for Grimauld Place, but living there should be better now that I'm allowed to leave it occasionally. It'll be exponentially better if you're there. The place needs a lot of work but I think we could handle it."

"But…but we're not even dating."

Sirius laughed, "This morning you refused to let me leave your bed and you say we aren't dating."

"But still…"

"We're dating. The kind of flirting we engaged in can't lead to anything but dating."

Lucy smiled, "Good but where's Harry going to stay? He needs a place to live. We can't just put him out on the street like a stray cat."

"He can stay with us if he wants, or Molly and Arthur."

"I plan on getting a place of my own as soon as I can." Harry interjected.

"Ron and I will keep a look out for some place near the Burrow," Ginny promised.

"See there? It's all settled," Sirius told her.

"I suppose I will have to learn to live with your mother then. Are you sure there's nothing that can be done about her?"

"Nothing short of tearing down the wall and I doubt even that could be done."

"Hmm. Perhaps we could move Phineas Nigelus down across from her. They could talk," Lucy laughed at the expressions on everyone's faces.

"I think it would be best if we left Mother covered up."


	3. Chapter 3: Welcome

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A new job and an uncomfortable separation.

Lucy wiped the sweat from her forehead. It was another hot summer and she had only just managed to get Sirius's face back on the Black family tree. His had been the last face she had tried to restore and it had also been the hardest. She attributed it to how much his mother had hated him. "What do you think?"

Sirius stepped back and nodded, "You did a wonderful job, but it looks nothing like me."

With her hands on her hips, Lucy looked more like Mrs. Weasley than normal, "It most certainly does!" She tilted her head and considered the tiny face on the wall, "Or it would if you gained some weight. They didn't feed you much in Azkaban did they?"

"No, but then I was also dead for two years."

"Don't remind me."

A clanging, followed by a woman's screaming alerted the pair to someone at the front door. Sirius rolled his eyes, "We need to find a way to keep her quiet."

"You go find out who it is. Last time I went past her she informed me she'd rather have a Muggle-born living here than a couple of blood-traitors, even if one of them is her son."

Sirius grabbed her around the waist, "Mother never did know much of anything. I'll get rid of whoever's at the door and we can go upstairs and take a break from all this work."

Lucy shook her head, smiling, "I don't think so. For one thing I'm in a groove now and I'm going to keep working. For another whoever came to the door probably actually wants to see one of us."

"Alright, alright. I'll bring them in here if they insist on seeing us," Sirius departed, shouting at his mother to shut up.

Lucy hugged herself. It was so easy, being with him. Not that they didn't have their disagreements now and then. They did. He preferred to laze about most days; she would rather get some work done. She had always thought relationships were hard work. It was what her father had always told her and judging from her experience with her relatively few, make that two, boyfriends, he had been right. Now, she knew he was wrong. It might not always be this easy, she knew, but they didn't have to work in order to fit together. That had happened without any work at all.

"Lu?" Sirius called after a few moments, "You presentable in there?"

"And why wouldn't I be? Honestly, sometimes it's incredibly hard to believe that you're thirteen years older then me."

"Just wanted to make sure before I brought our guest in," Sirius said, showing Dumbledore into the room.

"Professor Dumbledore! Please have a seat," Lucy gestured to the only sofa free of knick-knacks and other things. "I'm sorry it's such a mess. We've been repairing and redecorating."

"No matter," Dumbledore said, waving away her apologies. "I've come with a proposal for you Miss Ketteridge."

"A proposal?"

"Yes. Ever since our conversation in Hogwarts' library I've been thinking about what you said. Hogwarts doesn't supply those students with a passion for reading with a way to explore that venue in more depth. I know it's rather close to the end of break but I believe that someone with your enthusiasm for the subject is exactly what would be needed to teach the class."

"I'm afraid I don't know anyone like that."

Dumbledore smiled, "I happen to know someone precisely like that. Though I'm not sure I'll be able to lure her away from renovating her boyfriend's home."

Lucy's brow scrunched in puzzlement. "You mean me?" she questioned.

"I mean you," he nodded.

"But-but what about…" Lucy looked over to where Sirius stood.

Dumbledore's gaze followed hers, "Well, Sirius wouldn't be able to come to Hogwarts with you, but there's no reason why he couldn't take a place in Hogsmeade."

"And Elladora?" Lucy worried, watching her grey cat pick its way through the mess on the floor towards Sirius.

"Of course she could come. Students are allowed companions, why not the professors too?"

"All right, I'll do it," she was happier about this turn of events than she might have thought.

"Excellent. I look forward to introducing you to our faculty."

"I don't think that will be necessary. I was taught by most of them."

"Just the same."

* * *

Lucy leaned back against the pillar next to the gates leading into Hogwarts' grounds. She pulled her lips from Sirius's, groaning. "I really need to be going."

"Are you sure?" he asked, moving on to her neck.

"Mmmm, yes."

"So soon? What do you have to do? All of your things are here and put away already, your class room is all set up…"

"I have to attend the Welcome Feast and the sorting of the first years," Lucy said, pulling his face back up to eye-level with hers. "If I don't go soon, the students will be arriving."

"So?" he said, reclaiming her lips.

"They don't need to see their new professor snogging."

Sirius was able to distract her for a few more moments. Until she heard a familiar sounding voice that was. "Is that Sirius?"

Lucy pulled back and looked over his shoulder, seeing her cousin's head poking out the window along with Hermione's.

"It is! And that's Lucy hiding behind him! I think we just caught one of our new professors snogging."

"It's not surprising. They were doing that when we left them in London this morning." Hermione said.

Lucy hid her blushing face in his neck as the carriage carrying Ginny and Hermione went past and entered the grounds. "Now, I _have_ to go. I'm cutting it close as it is," Lucy pulled away and mounted her broom. "I might be able to make it to Hogsmeade this weekend. Probably at least for a couple hours. I'll let you know," she said before taking off.

* * *

She had just enough time to stash her broom and slip into her seat at the faculty's table before all the students, except first years, entered the great hall.

Not being an extremely social person, she was a bit annoyed to find herself sitting next to Professor Slughorn. She'd never met him before; having come to Hogwarts after Snape had been hired as Potions Master. Even so he talked to her as if she were his long lost best friend. His jabbering almost made her miss Ginny entering the hall as head girl this year. Lucy rolled her eyes when she caught Ginny smirking at her predicament.

The room quieted as Professor McGonagall led the first years into the Great Hall. Had she ever been that small? Surely not. For so long now there had been arguments about pure-bloods versus Muggle-borns. Here, entering Hogwarts for the first time, there was no difference. All the students looked up at the enchanted ceiling, altered to look a bit friendlier than the cloudy one outside the building. She remembered that moment well. She had been so worried that she would end up in a house other than Gryffindor, both her parents had been sorted there and it had been assumed she would be as well. She had ended up in Ravenclaw, but couldn't imagine being in any other house. It had been where she belonged.

The first small boy to be sorted was placed in Ravenclaw and Lucy clapped just a little harder than she normally would have. After the first few students were sorted, Slughorn once again began making conversation with her. Lucy sighed, not wanting to be impolite but he was being impolite to others who wanted to watch and to the students being sorted.

Being completely rude, Lucy ignored Slughorn and looked down the table of professors. Many were ones she recognized and had been taught by. All the way at the other end of the table though, was the witch who had accepted the position Lucy had turned down. She wasn't upset about it. Lucy knew she hadn't been at all qualified for the job and Dumbledore had told her that Professor Samson was more then able to properly teach the students Muggle Studies. They hadn't met yet as Lucy had been in Hogsmeade spending some time with Sirius when the other witch had been settling in. The blonde professor looked to be in deep conversation with Hagrid, the groundskeeper and professor of Care of Magical Creatures, and so Lucy turned her attention back to the room at large.

Lucy stopped eating when Dumbledore stood and silenced the hall before walking up to the headmaster's podium for his traditional welcome speech. "Well, at first I would like to say: It is wonderful to be back with all of you again."

She had to resist the urge to cover her ears, so loud was the applause and cheering. She was glad everyone who had come back was there but thinking too hard about that day brought back her doubts of her own sanity. What had happened still didn't quite make sense to her.

Once the hall had quieted down again he continued, "We have had a difficult past year, and a long, difficult battle with Voldemort even throughout the years before then. But we have come back stronger than before, and I believe that this will be a bright new year for us all. That said, I would like to introduce everyone to a few new professors we have starting this year. Unfortunately, our previous professor of Muggle Studies, Professor Charity Burbage, was truly destroyed by the Death Eaters and escaped the revival that many of us were granted. But we believe that we have hired one of the most qualified witches of our time to teach the subject. Please welcome Professor Dinah Samson!"

Lucy clapped as Dinah stood, smiling at the crowd. She looked a bit nervous, but then they were both teaching for the first time and Lucy was feeling the same way. Maybe she would try to meet up with Dinah later and they could try to sooth each other. At some point they could even compare notes on their teaching experiences, perhaps even become friends after awhile.

Once again the applause died down and Professor Samson sat back in her more desirable seat.

"I'm sure you will all make Professor Samson feel welcome," Dumbledore continued, and then his smile widened, "And on an even more positive note, our other professor is not here to replace anyone. We are all lucky to have not lost any more faculty in the battles of the past few years. No, this year we have taken it upon ourselves to add an entirely new class to the Hogwarts repertoire! For those of you that enjoy recreational reading, we have set up a new elective course on wizard literature for your pleasure. Therefore, I would like to introduce you all to our other new faculty member, Professor Lucy Ketteridge."

Lucy stood and smiled at the students, much like Dinah had done before her. She noticed Ginny smiling brightly and clapping as hard as she could at the Gryffindor table. Lucy winked back at the girl; perhaps she could call Ginny to her office later to have a chat. She had gotten used to talking to Sirius before bed and was already dreading not partaking in the ritual.

When the applause died down Lucy sat, grimacing when Slughorn once again began talking to her. She was relieved when Dumbledore dismissed everyone and she could escape the talkative professor.

Rushing to her room and closing the door before Slughorn could follow her, Lucy flopped on her bed. It probably wouldn't be the wisest option to send for Ginny now that Lucy thought about it and besides it was her first night here too, she probably wanted to get settled and hang out with her friends.

After a minute or two Elladora leapt on to the bed and curled up on Lucy's chest. Her fingers absently stroked the cat's fur as she talked to her. Some might think talking to a cat odd but it was better than talking to yourself. "Well, Dora, have you settled in? Met any new friends?" The cat just purred in response. "You probably don't care where we are, just as long as I'm nearby and you can get fed. Though I don't know why I continue to feed you, you cuddle up to Sirius more then you've ever done with me," Lucy murmured, joking.

Dora got up and leapt to the floor, retreating to her favorite hiding place. Under the bed. "Disloyal cat," Lucy said. After a minute or two she heard a scratching at the door. "You get visitors and I don't?" she asked Dora, getting up to open the door.

A large, black dog sat on the other side. When the door was open far enough he walked in as if he had the right to be there. "What are you doing here?" Lucy exclaimed. The dog sat in the middle of the room and she had a sinking feeling about what he was going to do. "Don't you dare! If anyone comes by here I'd rather they find Snuffles in my room and not Sirius Black," she closed her door again and took a seat on the chair. Her head shook in disbelief as Dora came out from under the bed and rubbed against Snuffles.

"Fine! You can stay, but just for tonight. If Dumbledore knew what you were doing…" The dog came over to where she sat and licked her face, "Oh, gross. Dog breath," she said pushing his face away from hers. "I don't even let my boyfriend lick my face."

Snuffles cocked his head and looked at her. He almost seemed to be disagreeing with her.

"Well, I don't!"

After a few minutes Snuffles walked to Lucy's unlocked trunk and lifted the lid with his snout. He stuck his nose on everything before pulling out a nightgown with his teeth.

"Oh, time for bed is it? Alright, I do have a busy day tomorrow," she twirled her hand, "Turn around."

The dog whined his disappointment.

"Yeah, I know it's terrible, just do it." After she changed the pair curled up together to sleep, Dora once again hiding. Lucy was hot and the bed wasn't exactly made for a person and a dog to share, but she fell asleep quickly and with a smile on her face.


End file.
